Climate Education
Reports show students want climate education
November 30, 2020
This week, we’re highlighting the latest news on climate education and what it means for future climate literacy. The urgent need for climate literacy is a trending topic across media outlets.
‘A crisis accepted becomes an adventure’: Explorer Bertrand Piccard gives his tips on how to survive lockdown
An interview with Bertrand Piccard, veteran explorer and psychiatrist, vocalizes his support for compulsory, assessed climate change education and EARTHDAY.ORG™’s Climate and Environmental Literacy campaign.
“Focusing on the dangers of climate change, along with potential solutions, at school will help children decide what to study at University so they can help solve the problem,” he says.
Alberta students want more education on climate change: report
A recent report by the Alberta Council for Environmental Education articulates the lack of environmental literacy education students receive and the climate crisis narrative students desire.
A survey conducted by Leger Marketing claims that 61% of students are concerned about climate change and 69% are worried about their future in respect to the consequences of the climate crisis. Teachers and students affirm that Canada’s education system is outdated and want climate literacy as a part of their curriculum.
Classrooms without walls, and hopefully covid
Outdoor learning may be an opportunity for in-person classes to resume safely during COVID, reports the New York Times. “Covid has hastened the pace of a shift toward trying to take better advantage of the outdoors,” said Maria Libby, the superintendent of the Five Town Community School District in Rockport, Maine.
Here is a look at four American schools where students are learning in the open air, and where at least some parents and teachers hope that the temporary measures might become permanent, for as long as the weather cooperates.
Net-zero must be embedded in school curriculums, Aldersgate Group urges
The Aldersgate Group recently published a paper that calls for climate literacy to be established in education systems throughout the UK. The group recommends for environmental sustainability lessons to be embedded into primary and secondary school curriculums after nearly one-third of students claimed to not be taught enough about environmental degradation. At higher levels of education, the group desires to equip students with skills and training to transition into low-carbon job sectors.
“Together with developing a comprehensive policy plan to put the UK on track for its target, the government must prioritise the development of an ambitious and carefully coordinated low carbon skills strategy and ensure that educational institutions across the country are supported in this process.”
Nick Molho, Aldersgate Group’s executive director
‘We deserve to be taught about it’: why students want climate crisis classes
A recent piece in The Guardian highlights the transformation of UK university curricula to include climate literacy in each academic department. Teach the Future founder, Joe Brindle, affirms the importance of education on sustainability at the university level as his research found that just 4% of students feel well-informed about the climate crisis, but 68% say they want to learn more.
A Teach the Future initiative for climate education has a threefold plan for universities: a review on climate crisis lectures by the Department of Education, mandatory teacher training on sustainability and the implementation of the Climate Emergency Education Bill that requires climate crisis lessons at all education providers.
Climate and Environmental Literacy Campaign
Establishing climate education in every school in the world.
